Billionaire's son offers home to Colombian “cocaine vultures” rather than kill them

The son of an Indian billionaire offered on Tuesday that he would take the so-called “cocaine hippos” comes from those introduced to Colombia by the drug lord Pablo Escobar, rather than killing animals.

Anant Ambanison of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, said that he has officially requested the Colombian government to the decision to kill animalsthey don't have it it caused damage in the rivers of South America.

Instead, he asked to allow “a safe, scientifically-guided transfer that will bring 80 animals to their forever home” at his Vantara animal center.

The largest zoo in India's western state of Gujarat bills itself as “one of the world's largest centers for wildlife rescue, care and conservation.”

Vantara is already home to hundreds of elephants, as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India's Central Zoo Authority.

Experts have repeatedly raised the alarm over Vantara's large animal consumption, including the importation of highly endangered and rare species. The sanctuary was at the center of angry protests after a sick elephant was moved to Vantara last year, BBC News reported.

Escobar brought hippos — which are native only to Africa and can weigh several tons — to Colombia in the 1980s.

After Escobar's death, hippos from his private zoo he made a new life on the fertile banks of Colombia's Magdalena River — where they attacked fishermen, leading to measures to kill them.

Colombia announced that the invasive species and experts say that sterilization alone is not enough to control animal growth, which is why the government planned for it to happen transfer of hippos in overseas sanctuaries. But the cost of chasing hippos is also expensive – it is estimated $3.5 million.

Anant Ambani, the son of the billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries, said he had submitted a detailed plan to give the animals a new home at Vantara.

The animal facility is located near the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery Complex, which the corporation claims is the largest crude oil refinery in the world.

Summers can be very hot, with temperatures rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ambani's proposal envisages veterinarian-led capture and translocation, and the creation of a “purposefully designed environment” for the hippos, the zoo's statement said.

“Vantara has the knowledge, infrastructure and willingness to support this effort, on Colombian terms,” ​​the statement said.

“These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, and they did not create the conditions they are facing now,” Ambani added. “They are living, sentient beings, and if we have the power to save them with a safe and humane solution, we have an obligation to try.”

Hippos are one of the main attractions at the Nápoles farm, which was taken over by the Colombian government when it seized Escobar's estates. It now operates as a theme park, featuring swimming pools, water slides and a zoo that includes several other African species.

Last October, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced that the country had given up a portion Escobar's ranch for women they were caught in the national armed conflict.

Animal welfare activists in Colombia have long opposed proposals to kill hippos, saying they deserve to live. They say that solving this problem with violence is a bad example in a country that has been facing internal turmoil for decades.

Freelance journalist Audrey Huse, who has lived in Colombia for years, previously told CBS News that because hippos roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening existing species such as manatees, otters and turtles.

“Because they don't have natural predators here, like they would in Africa, the population grows and affects the local ecosystem,” Huse said. “Because they are big animals, they eat a lot of grasslands and produce a lot of waste, which poisons the rivers.”